A Pigeon Can't Fly With Broken Wings
by ladybuguab
Summary: This is yet another companion piece to Left to Wait and Wonder. Same storyline, only using another character's view Definitely not necessary to read the other piece first, but it may help clarify some specific details.


_A Pigeon Can't Fly With Broken Wings_

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><p><strong>Disclaimer<strong>: As always, the Emergency! people own their characters and I own any that I may create over the course of this story. I am only doing this for fun. No money is involved.

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><p><em>*This is yet another (and shorter) companion piece to my story <em>_Left to Wait and Wonder__. It is the same storyline, only using another character's view of the events. It has been quite some time since the other two were written so while it is definitely not necessary to read the other piece first, it may help clarify some specific details about what exactly happened to get the characters where they are in this story._

_I don't believe that I will be attempting this storyline from any other character's perspective. I realize that while some are rejoicing over this news, there may be a few of you who are disappointed. Anyone who feels the need to pick up where I am leaving off, please send me a message and I will see if we can work something out*_

_On with the story…_

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><p>It was a typical morning for me. I hit the snooze button one too many times and am forced to rush out the door thinking that I am going to be late for work. I never seem to remember until I am already on the road that my alarm clock is 15 minutes fast. I had plenty of time.<p>

I don't know why I have no pranks planned for my pigeon this morning. I just get this weird feeling that I should give him a free pass today. I have been pretty hard on him lately. Maybe I am getting soft. Maybe playing pranks is growing old. Maybe the absence of a prank will itself be a great prank. Johnny will be paranoid all day thinking that something is coming but it never will. Yes, this shift should prove a most interesting experiment.

Roll can is anything but typical. After the grief I have given Gage the last month, I am starting to feel like I have permanent latrine duty. But this morning, Cap knocks our socks off. He gave himself the dirty job. I can't shout for joy like I want to for fear Cap will change his mind or tell me it was just a joke and the honor is really mine. Nope, I will pretend that everything is normal and wait to silently celebrate once I am out of sight.

My unspoken hope is fulfilled today. Our slow streak continues from the last two shifts into this one. I can count on one hand the number of calls we had during our last shift. I think that is the fewest number of calls I have had during a shift my entire time with the department. The same goes for Roy and Johnny. They have spent more time in the station lately than out of it.

Apparently even my thoughts have been heard and fate conspires against us as we are called out to a warehouse fire just as we are sitting down to lunch. Marco was cooking today too. It would have been good. Let's hope it is just as good cold because I have a feeling that this call is going to take us a while.

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><p>The lower floors of the warehouse are already in flames by the time we pull up to the scene. The last time we were here for inspections, it was a nightmare. Boxes were stacked anywhere and everywhere. There seemed to be no pattern to their stacking either, with no rows or isles to guide you through the large storage area. Roy and Johnny are going to have a difficult time searching for anyone inside. And in all likelihood they will be sent in. It seems to never fail that in situations like this, there is that one stubborn employee who thinks that they are singlehandedly going to put the fire out themselves. That can't seem to remember that we get paid to do that. We are trained to do that. Trying to go at it alone puts Roy and Johnny's lives on the line more often than necessary. Seeing them gear up after talking to Cap and a civilian, it looks like today is going to be no different.<p>

At Cap's order, Marco and I unleash the engine's water onto the flames, providing the medics a entryway into the building. Judging by the flames' progression, it is going to be difficult to maintain an exit for them if we don't get some help soon. I know they are coming as quickly as they can, but I want them here now. Something about this situation is making me uncomfortable.

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><p>We all knew that this particular business stored chemicals, some in large quantities. But, I don't think that any of us would have believed that those chemicals could produce an explosion of that size had we not witnessed it, in all of its tragic glory. As I force myself up off the pavement that I was so violently pressed into, my thought immediately go to my friends inside. Ever the prankster, my first thoughts are cartoon imaginations of Gage and DeSoto exploding into dust as only cartoons can. I immediately switch off those thoughts, chastising myself for even allowing myself to think that way, all the while the back of my brain is screaming that those visions are probably exactly what happened. I can't allow myself to think like that. We can't lose them, especially not like that.<p>

No matter their condition, we will stay here until we find them and bring them home. It's going to take forever. Just getting what remains of the building stabilized will be agonizingly slow. Don't they understand? Time is of the essence. Roy and Johnny know that any given day, something like this could happen and they freely go anyway. I know that rushing in the collapsed remains of the building could take my life as well. I understand that and I am willing to take the risk. Why won't they let me go in, like Roy and Johnny do? I know why, but it is still difficult to stand around and wait, knowing that the wait could be killing m friends, if by some miracle they survived both the explosion and collapse.

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><p>Finally, after two painful hours, we get the signal to begin our search. I am certain that all we are looking for after this much time is bodies. I can see in Cap's eyes that he is a desperate man, desperately praying for a miracle. I too send up a quick prayer. If God is listening today, I hope is listening closely because I have a feeling that all he got from any of us were rushed requests.<p>

I am glad that I am not in charge of this scene. I would have no idea where to start looking amongst the chaos of the ruins. Soon we are spread out over the entire area.

God must have heard our prayers. Sooner than we expect, Mike calls out for quiet. After only a few seconds of close listening, we have our answer. At least one of our brothers lies below Mike's feet. We quickly begin digging. The sheer fact that Mike found him by listening tells us that he is still alive. The faster we work, the better chance that we have that he will still be that way when we get down to him.

As we break through the last of the debris, shock nearly paralyzes us all. Both men are here, in a tangle of bodies and broken bones…and blood. It is an ugly sight, one that I will likely see in my sleep for a long time to come. Who made the noise that Stoker heard to bring us here? Or is it purely a coincidence, because I have strong doubts that either man is alive, nor has been for some time.

It comes a great surprise that the paramedic from some other station, that I didn't even know was here, shouts up that both are alive. I wonder to myself if we can get them out alive and then get then to the hospital in that condition. As before, I have my doubts. Many of those doubts have been proven wrong so far, so maybe there is a chance that they will again.

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><p>The wait at the hospital seems endless. I don't know how long we have been here already, but I know that we will remain here until we have some answers about Roy and Johnny.<p>

First, Dr. Early brings us news about Roy. While his injuries are severe, the doctor forecasts a favorable recovery. It lifts a small weight off our shoulders, but a tremendous burden of worry remains as we wait for Dr. Brackett and news of Johnny. We are able to see Roy while we wait. For as bad as he looks now, it is infinitely better that when we got out first glimpse in the depths of the debris.

Hours into our wait, Dr. Brackett arrives with news about our other man. The news could only have been worse if Johnny had died. His injuries are extremely critical and the doctor isn't giving us much hope that he will pull through. What happened to that miracle we prayed for? Maybe we should have a taken a second more to whisper a prayer , not just that we find them alive, but we should have added that we wanted them to survive and recover to fight fires with us again. Is it our fault that we didn't extend our faith that far? I know it's not in any way our fault, but blame always comes easy in these situations. Eventually we will sort it all out in both our hearts and our heads, but if Johnny dies, that day may be a long time coming.

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><p>Roy is getting better every day. Johnny seems to have stalled out at just surviving by the minute, experiencing none of the recovery milestones we are hoping for. Something will have to change soon, one way or the other. He can't continue like this much longer, and we can't ask him to. We can't stand the wait much longer ourselves. The days pass slowly for us all. But, they creep by ever slower for the phantom. No one besides Johnny can provide the thrill and excitement, from the stalking to the eventual pounce. No matter how many times he gets set up, Johnny never seems to see it coming. He will probably never learn.<p>

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><p>Sneaking into Gage's room is more difficult than I had anticipated. The nurses are easy to slip past. Their trips to Johnny's room are on a schedule, easy to predict. No, my biggest challenge comes from my coworkers. There seems to always be two or three of us in the room at any given time. The only exception is when we are on shift, then others take up where we leave off, wives, girlfriends, sisters, off shift guys, and other friends. While I enjoy their company, since it helps pass the time with Johnny still unconscious, I need a few minutes alone with my pigeon. It is the worst kept secret in the department that Gage is one of my very closest friends. We argue and play tricks on each other purely for the fun of it. It helps keep us sane in the madness of our profession. So, I am not sneaking around so that no one will find out how good our friendship is, I just want some time alone, with no one wondering not for the first time, if I am alright. I don't think that is too much to ask.<p>

I finally make my break for his room and am relieved to find it empty. There are some thinks that I need to tell my friend. Things that I really think he can hear. Things that I hope will help him heal in some way because my pigeon can't fly with broken wings. He hasn't made much progress since he has been here, so maybe he just needs me to remind him exactly what is at stake.

I tell him yet again that Roy survived and is quickly making his way toward a full recovery. I promise him that Roy is coming to see him as soon as Dr. Brackett will allow it.

I remind him of how devastated Roy would be if his partner didn't pull through, how he would find a way to blame himself for everything that happened, how that guilt can destroy families. I remind that he knows how I know what guilt can do.

I also remind him of what it will do to our shift. It will forever change the dynamics of the A-shift family. Someone new will come in to take his place, but he is irreplaceable. Roy may decide he can't work with the new guy and take the promotion to engineer, thus bringing in yet another new guy. I don't think that I can break in two new pigeons at once. Then there is the matter of the pigeon-phantom relationship. What if the new guy or guys can't handle the phantom? The phantom can't be denied, so he will either have to transfer. Or the guys will have to continue to work together, but that close friendship and even trust may never exist as it did for us. A crew lacking trust is dangerous. His not pulling through is a danger to all of us, and I continue to remind him.

Knowing that a nurse is due in soon, I leave him with a more positive thought and make my stealthy retreat.

"You're going to have to hurry up and get better and come back to work. The phantom is getting restless."

I get no response from the figure in the bed that is supposed to be my friend and brother, and dejectedly I walk out.

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><p>Finally the report comes that Gage's condition is improving. I would like to think that my unsupervised visit the other day had something to do with it. But, I suspect that the long awaited regular visits from Roy helped more. A guy can dream can't he?<p>

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><p>This morning will bring us full circle. It took six months, but it's finally here. Our last man finally comes home. It's been a long wait, and am I ever prepared. I hope my pigeon brought plenty of spare uniforms. He is definitely going to need everyone he can get. I am not going to take a chance on starting the day like our last together. I have a feeling everyone is having similar thoughts.<p>

I can hear his vehicle pulling into the lot, but I already have everything ready. This should prove an unforgettable day, maybe one that will go down in the phantom's book of greatest days ever.

Let the fun begin…

END

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><p><em>*Thanks for reading. I hope it turned out better than I think it did.<em>

_This version has taken much longer to reach completion than I ever expected. It was on target for posting in early May. However, the tragic tornado outbreak of April 27__th__ here in Alabama changed everything. It has taken me this long to even take up interest in writing anything again. My town was spared, but as little as 25 miles away, the devastation was unimaginable. One of the nearby towns suffered severe damage to over 80% of its homes and 99% of its businesses (only 1 small store survived). Arriving in one of those towns only hours after the storms came through as a search and rescue worker, I can testify that it is truly a miracle that there was not significantly more deaths, although the 200+ that were killed were too many. Many areas are still struggling today to recover as volunteers and donations have dwindled (This was expected though with the natural progression of time). *_


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